Yesterday, looking at the armor of God, I finished with our weapon against the devil's schemes - the sword of the Spirit. If we are to fight this spiritual battle at all, it's imperative that we're well armed. Galatians 5:16-17 says, "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. / For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want." Living by the Spirit involves living by God's power, and in accordance with His Word. How can we know that we're living by the Spirit? When we live by the Spirit, we will produce fruit according to God's nature. That's why I want to look at the fruit of the Spirit today, as a gauge for spiritual health, so we can honestly see if we're living by the Spirit and are well equipped for whatever spiritual warfare we might face.
The first fruit listed is love. So what does love look like when we live by the Spirit? John 15:13 says, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." Along the same lines, Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Clearly this love is self-sacrificing, putting the welfare and well-being of others above our own, and that's exactly what you'd expect of something that is powerful enough to defeat our sinful nature of selfishness and pride. Romans 13:10 says, "Love does no harm to its neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." Again, love is concerned with others, and as such is obedient and in line with God's Word. This also makes sense for something which flows from the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 1 Corinthians 13 gives a great teaching on this sort of love, without which influence, prophecy, knowledge, and even faith and good deeds are useless. I'll just copy it out here, hopefully to dig deeper into it another day, and reflect on what it says about life in the Spirit. Verses 4-7 say, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. / It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. / Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. / It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." Then the beginning of verse 8 gives a clue to its power, and why we should seek to live this way: "Love never fails." Obviously, when we live by the Spirit, we will be others-oriented, we will look out for them first, we will see them as God sees them - valued, important and ultimately lovable. How would you like someone to see you that way? There's a great reason why we should live by the power of the Spirit.
Love is a huge topic, and so it should be, but what about joy? How does joy fit into living by the Spirit and result from fighting spiritual battles in His power? Psalm 94:19 says, "When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul." I don't think that verse has ever spoken so powerfully to me as it has today. Psalm 126:6 says, "He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him." I believe that as we press through the work that God has for us to do, we may weep for a while, but we will have joy when we see the fruit of that work - that makes sense to me, since joy is the fruit of living by the Spirit, and the result of communion with God. John 16:22 says, "...Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy."
How does peace fit into spiritual warfare? Doesn't that seem a bit of a contradiction? Remember, this peace is a result of living by the Spirit, putting the desires of the flesh to death, and when our enemy is defeated, is not the natural result peace? Philippians 4:7 says, as I also looked at yesterday, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Psalm 4:8 says, "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." I think Proverbs 16:7 makes the point well: "When a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him." Isaiah 26:3 also speaks to the subject: "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you." Peace is a result of trusting God. We see Him work in our lives through His Spirit, and we trust that He has the power to do whatever is necessary to see us through whatever is to come. In John 16:33, Jesus says, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
Patience obviously involves waiting. It allows us to endure suffering in hope, resulting from the very peace we just looked at. Living by the Spirit means that if we take a hit in the fight, it doesn't destroy us. We endure, knowing the end result of the battle is victory. James 5:8 says, "You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near." It also allows us to bear with the weaknesses of those who we fight alongside. Ephesians 4:2 says, "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." Also, 1 Thessalonians 5:14 says, "And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone."
As I look through biblical references for kindness, I see a pattern. It seems to me that kindness is meeting the needs of others, especially when they can't meet that need themselves. It is not earned, merited, or required, it is voluntary and it is free. Romans 2:4 says, "...God's kindness leads you toward repentance." As we live by the Spirit, we show that kindness to others just as freely, with no thought of reward or repayment. We are all in this fight together, and it really is in our best interests to keep our brothers and sisters as strong as possible.
I looked to see what the Bible had to say about goodness, and I realized something. When God created the earth, He pronounced everything to be 'good'. Once He had created man, and looked at everything together, He pronounced it 'very good'. Yet when Jesus is called 'good teacher' in both Mark 10:18 and Luke 18:19, He replies this way: " 'Why do you call me good?' Jesus answered. 'No one is good - except God alone.' " Somewhere in between those two points, what was good has become not good. Goodness is lacking in mankind when we are apart from God. This flies in the face of a culture that says, "People are all basically good." The wonderful news is this: We can be restored to goodness! As a fruit of the Spirit, it is a result of living by the Spirit, a natural outcome of fighting the good fight. God restores to us our original identity, the person we were created to be, the one He looks at and pronounces 'good'.
Faithfulness means integrity, keeping our promises, fulfilling the duties entrusted to us. It means that we can be counted on, that God and others can have faith in us, and that we do not break faith with them. A faithful man is one who, as Psalm 15:4 says, "...keeps his oath even when it hurts." This too is a result of living by the Spirit. The sword of the Spirit that we wield is the very word of God. God is always faithful to His word, He kept it even when it hurt Him most. When we live by the very Spirit who is utterly faithful, it is only natural that we should be filled with faithfulness.
Gentleness is another fruit of the Spirit, and it does not equal weakness. Gentleness is true strength. In Matthew 11:29, Jesus says, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Read that verse in context and you will see that Christ's gentleness is giving someone a light and easy burden, and taking their heavy one onto His own shoulders. Is carrying more weight to ease someone else's burden a sign of weakness? Not at all! As we are made "strong in the Lord and in his mighty power" (Ephesians 6:10), we then have the ability to be more gentle than ever.
What can I say about self-control? That it's only once we give up control of our lives to God that His Spirit births self-control within us? If the ranks of our spiritual army are to have order, we first have to submit ourselves to the control of our commander, and then we need to remain self-disciplined so that we don't lose focus in between the direct commands. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." His Spirit conquers our fear, our weakness, our undisciplined behaviour and enables us to fight this spiritual war with the strength that He gives.
So, the big question - are we producing this fruit? I know I can definitely see areas where God has been developing these in me, but I can also see other areas where I could, and should, improve.
God, let Your Spirit work in every area of my life, producing fruit in keeping with Your character. Make me the godly man that I was created to be, and may You get all the glory for Your work. Amen.
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